Affordable housing (condo, Realtor, developer, state)

[DMenscha]

My county is going through with a new general plan to replace the old one. One of the things that people are wanting to have included in the new plan is an affordable housing element.

Having done more than a few subdivisions in my life, I know that density is the most important component in affordability, yet in my rural county density is a four letter word. The County pays lip service to density and affordability and the people that clamor the loudest for affordable housing would raise holy hell if anyone suggested that it be built near them.

So the question is. Does anyone know of any situations where a successful effort has been made to produce affordable housing? Do you find your local government helping or hindering the effort? (That ones for you Frudy ) And does anyone have any helpful suggestions to achieve success in something like this? (BTW, there are only 4 condo developments in the county and almost no dense zoning areas in it)

Ideas?

[TampaKaren]

Florida has completed several successful affordable housing projects with city and county officials using land trusts. And these are not square boxes. They were designed to complement the surrounding communities with Art in Architecture.

The Florida Housing Coalition, 1000 Friends of Florida and a neverending list of other wonderful people have authored some excellent primers for local elected officials and staff on avoiding and overcoming the NIMBY syndrome and other barriers to creating affordable housing.

Additional information and contact information are below. I have found them to be passionate about what they do and they're very willing to help.

BTW, a portion of the transfer taxes on real estate is set aside for affordable housing in Florida, per The William E. Sadowski Act of 1992. I think it's posted on one of the websites below as well.

I hope this helps and good luck!

http://www.1000friendsofflorida.org/housing/clt.asp

http://www.floridahousing.org/home/ (broken link)

http://www.flhousing.org

ADDITIONAL INFO:

Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa have pretty good affordable housing department(s). Below are their links as well. I think that Tampa has the city plan posted on their website, but not too sure about the county.

http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/affordablehousingoffice/ (broken link)

http://www.tampagov.net/dept_growth_management_and_development_services/programs_and_services/ (broken link)

Your local realtor association might be able to get involved as well by setting up a foundation. More reading below:

http://www.cityoforlando.net/housing/CLT%20COMMUNITY%20PRESENTATION.pdf (broken link)

http://www.orlrealtor.org/main/Artic...=9&SectionID=1

[carolac]

A developer here in Orlando is developing "workforce housing"--lower cost homes for working people, but I've seen where Ft. Lauderdale, Georgia and other areas are looking at it too---maybe other places. Here's a couple of links I found on it in the Orlando area:

http://unityhomesllc.com/contact.html (broken link)
http://www.floridatrend.com/article.asp?aID=47575

[DMenscha]

Thanks to both of you so far.